
The Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) is the modern archaeological designation for a particular Middle
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
civilisation of southern
Central Asia
Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
, also known as the Oxus Civilization. The civilisation's urban phase or Integration Era was dated in 2010 by Sandro Salvatori to –1950 BC,
but a different view is held by Nadezhda A. Dubova and Bertille Lyonnet, –1700 BC.
[Lyonnet, Bertille, and Nadezhda A. Dubova, (2020b)]
"Questioning the Oxus Civilization or Bactria- Margiana Archaeological Culture (BMAC): an overview"
in Bertille Lyonnet and Nadezhda A. Dubova (eds.), ''The World of the Oxus Civilization'', Routledge, London and New York, p. 32.: "...Salvatori has often dated its beginning very early (ca. 2400 BC), to make it match with Shahdad where a large amount of material similar to that of the BMAC has been discovered. With the start of international cooperation and the multiplication of analyses, the dates now admitted by all place the Oxus Civilization between 2250 and 1700 BC, while its final phase extends until ca. 1500 BC..."
Though it may be called the "Oxus civilization", apparently centred on the upper
Amu Darya
The Amu Darya ( ),() also shortened to Amu and historically known as the Oxus ( ), is a major river in Central Asia, which flows through Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. Rising in the Pamir Mountains, north of the Hindu Ku ...
(Oxus River) in
Bactria
Bactria (; Bactrian language, Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush, an area ...
, most of the BMAC's urban sites are located in
Margiana (now
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...
) on the
Marghab delta, and in the
Kopet Dagh range. There are a few later (–1450 BC) sites in northern Bactria, currently known as southern
Uzbekistan
, image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg
, image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg
, symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem
, national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...
, but they are mostly graveyards belonging to the BMAC-related Sapalli culture. A single BMAC site, known as Dashli, lies in southern Bactria, current territory of northern
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
. Sites found further east, in southwestern
Tajikistan
Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...
, though contemporary with the main BMAC sites in Margiana, are only graveyards, with no urban developments associated with them.
The civilisation was named BMAC by the
Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
archaeologist
Viktor Sarianidi in 1976 when he was excavating in northern Afghanistan (1969–1979). Sarianidi's excavations from the late 1970s onward revealed numerous monumental structures in many sites, fortified by impressive walls and gates. Reports on the BMAC were primarily published in Soviet journals. A journalist from ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' wrote in 2001 that during the years of the Soviet Union, the findings were largely unknown to the West until Sarianidi's work began to be translated in the 1990s. However, some publications by Soviet authors, like Masson, Sarianidi, Atagarryev, and Berdiev, had been available to the West, translated in the first half of 1970s, slightly before Sarianidi labelled the findings as BMAC.
Origin and chronology
Italian archaeologists, like Massimo Vidale and Dennys Frenez, support Sandro Salvatori's hypothesis that Namazga V is the beginning of the ultimate urban phase called BMAC, belonging to the Integration Era (c. 2400–1950 BC). On the other hand, Russian and French archaeologists Nadezhda Dubova and Bertille Lyonnet consider there was a gap between the end of Namazga III phase and the beginning of BMAC in Margiana, and that most of the sites both in Margiana and Bactria were founded on virgin soil only around 2250 BC lasting until 1700 BC.
Etymology
The region was first named Bakhdi in
Old Persian
Old Persian is one of two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of the Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as (I ...
, which then formed the Persian
satrap
A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median kingdom, Median and Achaemenid Empire, Persian (Achaemenid) Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic period, Hellenistic empi ...
y of
Marguš (perhaps from the Sumerian term
Marhasi), the capital of which was
Merv
Merv (, ', ; ), also known as the Merve Oasis, was a major Iranian peoples, Iranian city in Central Asia, on the historical Silk Road, near today's Mary, Turkmenistan. Human settlements on the site of Merv existed from the 3rd millennium& ...
, in modern-day southeastern Turkmenistan. It was then called ''Bāxtriš'' in
Middle Persian
Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...
, and ''Baxl'' in
New Persian
New Persian (), also known as Modern Persian () is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into three stages: Early New Persian (8th ...
. The region was also mentioned in ancient
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
texts as बाह्लीक or ''Bāhlīka''. The modern term ''
Bactria
Bactria (; Bactrian language, Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush, an area ...
'' is derived from the Ancient Greek: Βακτριανή (Romanized Greek term: Baktrianē) (modern
Balkh), which came from the Sanskrit term.
Early Food-Producing Era
There is archaeological evidence of settlement in the well-watered northern foothills of the Kopet Dag during the Jeitun era (7200−4600 BC). In this region, mud brick houses were first occupied during the Jeitun, also called the Early Food-Producing Era.
[Vidale, Massimo, (2017)]
Treasures from the Oxus
p. 9, Table 1. The inhabitants were farmers with origins in
West Asia
West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...
who kept
herds of goats and sheep and grew wheat and barley. Jeitun has given its name to the whole Neolithic in the northern foothills of the Köpet Dag. At the late Neolithic site of Chagylly Depe, farmers increasingly grew the kinds of crops that are typically associated with irrigation in an arid environment, such as
hexaploid bread wheat, which became predominant during the
Chalcolithic
The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...
period. This region is dotted with the multi-period hallmarks characteristic of the
ancient Near East
The ancient Near East was home to many cradles of civilization, spanning Mesopotamia, Egypt, Iran (or Persia), Anatolia and the Armenian highlands, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula. As such, the fields of ancient Near East studies and Nea ...
, similar to those southwest of the Köpet Dag in the
Gorgan Plain of Iran.
Regionalization Era
The
Regionalization Era begins in
Anau IA with a pre-Chalcolithic phase also in the
Kopet Dag piedmont region from 4600 to 4000 BC, then the
Chalcolithic
The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...
period develops from 4000 to 2800 BC in
Namazga I-III, Ilgynly Depe, and
Altyn Depe.
During this Copper Age, the population of the region grew. Archaeologist Vadim Mikhaĭlovich Masson, who led the
South Turkmenistan Complex Archaeological Expedition of 1946, saw signs that people migrated to the region from central Iran at this time, bringing metallurgy and other innovations, but thought that the newcomers soon blended with the Jeitun farmers.
(Vadim was the son of archaeologist
Mikhail Masson, who had previously already started work in this same area.) By contrast, a re-excavation of
Monjukli Depe in 2010 found a distinct break in settlement history between the late Neolithic and early Chalcolithic eras there.

Major chalcolithic settlements sprang up at
Kara-Depe and
Namazga-Depe. In addition, there were smaller settlements at
Anau, Dashlyji, and
Yassy-depe. Settlements similar to the early level at Anau also appeared further east– in the ancient delta of the river
Tedzen, the site of the
Geoksiur Oasis. About 3500 BC, the cultural unity of the area split into two pottery styles: colourful in the west (Anau, Kara-Depe and Namazga-Depe) and more austere in the east at
Altyn-Depe and the Geoksiur Oasis settlements. This may reflect the formation of two tribal groups. It seems that around 3000 BC, people from Geoksiur migrated into the
Murghab delta (where small, scattered settlements appeared) and reached further east into the
Zerafshan Valley in
Transoxiana
Transoxiana or Transoxania (, now called the Amu Darya) is the Latin name for the region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...
. In both areas pottery typical of Geoksiur was in use. In Transoxiana they settled at
Sarazm near
Pendjikent. To the south the foundation layers of
Shahr-i Sōkhta on the bank of the
Helmand River
The Helmand river (Pashto/Dari: ; Ancient Greek: Ἐτύμανδρος, ''Etýmandros''; Latin: '), also spelled Helmend, or Helmund, Hirmand, is the longest river in Afghanistan and the primary watershed for the endorheic Sistan Basin. It o ...
in south-eastern Iran contained pottery of the Altyn-Depe and Geoksiur type. Thus the farmers of Iran, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan were connected by a scattering of farming settlements.
Late Regionalization Era
At Altyndepe, the Namazga III phase, which spanned from 3200 to 2800 BCE, exhibited a late Chalcolithic culture at the beginning of the Late Regionalization Era.
In the
Early Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
, at the end of the Late Regionalization Era (2800 to 2400 BC),
the culture of the Köpetdag
oases in the Altyndepe site developed a proto-urban society. This corresponds to phase IV at
Namazga-Tepe. Altyndepe was a major centre even then.
Pottery was wheel-turned and
grapes were grown.
Integration Era: Oxus Civilization
The height of the urban development was reached in the
Middle Bronze Age, also known as
Integration Era, mainly in three regions, Kopet Dag piedmont, Margiana, and southern Bactria, as well as some cemetery remains recently found in southwestern Tajikistan.
Kopet Dag, Namazga V phase
BMAC's urban period begins in the Kopet Dag piedmont, as per Massimo Vidale, corresponding to
Namazga-Depe level V (-2000 BC).
Namazga Depe reaching c. 52 hectares and holding maybe 17,000–20,000 inhabitants, and
Altyn Depe with its maximum size of c. 25 hectares and 7,000–10,000 inhabitants, were the two big cities in
Kopet Dag piedmont. This urban development is considered to have lasted, not from 2400 BC, but from to 1700 BC by Lyonnet and Dubova's recent publication.
Margiana, Kelleli phase
Identification of the first large settling in Margiana was possible through excavations at Kelleli 3 and 4, and these are the type sites of Kelleli phase. Massimo Vidale (2017) considers that the Kelleli phase was characterised by the appearance of the first palatial compounds from 2400 to 2000 BC.
Kelleli is located around 40 km northwest of Gonur; featuring Kelleli 3 with four hectares, characterised by towers in a double perimetral wall, four equal entrances, and houses in the southwest of the site. Kelleli 4 settlement is around three hectares, with the same characteristics in its wall. Sandro Salvatori (1998) commented that Kelleli phase began sightly later than Namazga V period.
[Salvatori, Sandro, (1998)]
"The Bronze Age in Margiana"
in A. Gubaev, G.A. Koshelenko, and M. Tosi (eds), The Archaeological Map of the Murghab Delta, Preliminary Reports 1990–95, Rome, p. 48.
Margiana, Gonur phase
Gonur phase was considered, by Sarianidi, as a southward movement of the previous Kelleli phase people.
In the ancient region of
Margiana, the site
Gonur Depe is the largest of all settlements in this period and is located at the delta of
Murghab river in southern Turkmenistan, with an area of around 55 hectares. An almost elliptical fortified complex, known as Gonur North includes the so-called "Monumental Palace", other minor buildings, temples and ritual places, together with the "Royal Necropolis", and water reservoirs, all dated by Italian archaeologists from around 2400 to 1900 BC. However French and Russian scholars like Lyonnet and Dubova date it to -1700 BC.
Southern Bactria
In southern
Bactria
Bactria (; Bactrian language, Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush, an area ...
, northern Afghanistan, the site Dashly 3 is regarded to be also from Middle Bronze Age to Late Bronze Age (2300–1700 BC) occupation, but its beginning is probably later than 2300 BC, although earlier than 2000 BC, if new datings for BMAC by Lyonnet and Dubova are taken into account. The old Dashly 3 complex, sometimes identified as a palace, is a fortified rectangular 88 m x 84 m compound. The square building had massive double outer walls and in the middle of each wall was a protruding salient composed of a T-shaped corridor flanked by two L-shaped corridors.
Southwestern Tajikistan
New archaeological research has recently found at three ancient cemeteries in southwestern
Tajikistan
Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...
called
Farkhor, Gelot (in
Kulob District), and Darnajchi, ceramics influenced by
Namazga IV and
Namazga V transitional period from Early to Middle Bronze Age, which can suggest a presence of BMAC inhabitants in this region earlier considered out of their influx. Gelot's grave N6-13 was dated to 2203–2036 cal BC (2 sigma), and Darnajchi's grave N2-2 as 2456-2140 cal BC (2 sigma). Farkhor's cemetery is located on the right bank of
Panj river, very near the
Indus Civilization
The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE ...
's site
Shortughai.
Material culture
Agriculture and economy
The inhabitants of the BMAC were sedentary people who practised
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...
farming of
wheat
Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
and
barley
Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...
. With their impressive material culture including monumental architecture, bronze tools, ceramics, and jewellery of semiprecious stones, the complex exhibits many of the
hallmarks of civilisation. The complex can be compared to proto-urban settlements in the
Helmand basin at
Mundigak in western Afghanistan and
Shahr-e Sukhteh in eastern Iran, or at
Harappa and
Mohenjo-daro
Mohenjo-daro (; , ; ) is an archaeological site in Larkana District, Sindh, Pakistan. Built 2500 BCE, it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation, and one of the world's earliest major city, cities, contemp ...
in the
Indus Valley.
Models of two-wheeled carts from found at Altyn-Depe are the earliest evidence of wheeled transport in Central Asia, though model wheels have come from contexts possibly somewhat earlier. Judging by the type of harness, carts were initially pulled by oxen or a bull. However, camels were domesticated within the BMAC. A model of a cart drawn by a camel of was found at Altyn-Depe.
Art
Fertility goddesses, named "Bactrian princesses", made from limestone,
chlorite
The chlorite ion, or chlorine dioxide anion, is the halite (oxyanion), halite with the chemical formula of . A chlorite (compound) is a compound that contains this group, with chlorine in the oxidation state of +3. Chlorites are also known as s ...
and clay reflect agrarian
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
society, while the extensive corpus of metal objects point to a sophisticated tradition of metalworking. Wearing large stylised dresses, as well as headdresses that merge with the hair, "Bactrian princesses" embody the ranking goddess, character of the Central Asian mythology that plays a regulatory role, pacifying the untamed forces.
Bactrian princess-AO 22918-IMG 0239-black.jpg, Female figurine of the "Bactrian princess" type; between 3rd millennium and 2nd millennium BC; chlorite mineral group (dress and headdresses) and limestone (face and neck); height: 17.3 cm, width: 16.1 cm; Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
Shaft-hole axe head with bird-headed demon, boar, and dragon MET 1982.5.jpg, Axe with eagle-headed demon & animals; late 3rd millennium-early 2nd millennium BC; gilt silver; length: 15 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
(New York City)
Bactrian camel MET DP-14200-001.jpg, Camel figurine; late 3rd–early 2nd millennium BCE; copper alloy; 8.89 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art
Monstrous male figure MET dp22227.jpg, Male figure; late 3rd–early 2nd millennium BC; chlorite
The chlorite ion, or chlorine dioxide anion, is the halite (oxyanion), halite with the chemical formula of . A chlorite (compound) is a compound that contains this group, with chlorine in the oxidation state of +3. Chlorites are also known as s ...
, calcite
Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...
, gold and iron; height: 10.1 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art
Axe head MET 1989.281.39.jpg, Axe head; late 3rd–early 2nd millennium BC; copper alloy; height: 2.8 cm, length: 7.2 cm, thickness: 1.8 cm, weight: 82.5 g; Metropolitan Museum of Art
"Bactrian Princess"; late 3rd–early 2nd millennium BC; grey chlorite and calcite; Barbier-Mueller Museum (Geneva, Switzerland).jpg, Female figurine of the "Bactrian princess" type; between 3rd millennium and 2nd millennium BC; grey chlorite (dress and headdresses) and calcite (face); Barbier-Mueller Museum (Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
, Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
)
"Bactrian Princess"; late 3rd–early 2nd millennium BC; grey chlorite and calcite; Barbier-Mueller Museum (Geneva, Switzerland) 1.jpg, Female figurine of the "Bactrian princess" type; between 3rd millennium and 2nd millennium BC; grey chlorite (dress and headdresses) and calcite (face); Barbier-Mueller Museum
Beaker with birds on the rim MET DT866.jpg, Beaker with birds on the rim; late 3rd–early 2nd millennium BC; electrum
Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. Its color ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver. It has been produced artificially and is ...
; height: 12 cm, width: 13.3 cm, depth: 4.5 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art
Handled Weight LACMA M.2001.11 (1 of 3).jpg, Handled weight; late 3rd–early 2nd millennium BC; chlorite; 25.08 x 19.69 x 4.45 cm; Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum).
LACMA was founded in 1961 ...
(USA)
Seated Female Figure LACMA M.2000.1a-f (1 of 3).jpg, Female figurine of the "Bactrian princess" type; 2500–1500; chlorite (dress and headdresses) and limestone (head, hands and a leg); height: 13.33 cm; Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum).
LACMA was founded in 1961 ...
(USA)
Vessel with Gilloche Pattern LACMA AC1995.5.7.jpg, Vessel with guilloche pattern; 2000–1500; chlorite; 3.33 x 6.67 x 3.81 cm; Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Kaunakes Bactria-AO 31917-IMG 0237.JPG, Female figurine of the "Bactrian princess" type; 2nd millennium BC; chlorite and calcite; Louvre
Seated Goddess, Western Central Asia, Bronze Age Bactria, late 3rd-early 2nd millenium BCE, chlorite and limestone, Miho Museum, Japan.jpg, Seated goddess, an example of a "Bactrian princess", Bronze Age Bactria
Bactria (; Bactrian language, Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush, an area ...
, Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex, circa 2000 BC. chlorite
The chlorite ion, or chlorine dioxide anion, is the halite (oxyanion), halite with the chemical formula of . A chlorite (compound) is a compound that contains this group, with chlorine in the oxidation state of +3. Chlorites are also known as s ...
and limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
. Central Asian art, Miho Museum, Japan.
Architecture

Sarianidi regards
Gonur Depe as the "capital" of the complex in Margiana throughout the Bronze Age. The palace of north Gonur measures 150 metres by 140 metres, the temple at
Togolok 140 metres by 100 metres, the fort at
Kelleli 3 125 metres by 125 metres, and the house of a local ruler at
Adji Kui 25 metres by 25 metres. Each of these formidable structures has been extensively excavated. While they all have impressive fortification walls, gates, and buttresses, it is not always clear why one structure is identified as a temple and another as a palace.
Mallory points out that the BMAC fortified settlements such as Gonur and Togolok resemble the
qila, the type of fort known in this region in the historical period. They may be circular or rectangular and have up to three encircling walls. Within the forts are residential quarters, workshops and temples.
The people of the BMAC culture were very proficient at working in a variety of metals including bronze, copper, silver, and gold. This is attested through the many metal artefacts found throughout the sites.
Extensive
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...
systems have been discovered at Geoksyur Oasis.
Writing
The discovery of a single tiny stone
seal (known as the "Anau seal") with geometric markings from the BMAC site at Anau in Turkmenistan in 2000 led some to claim that the
Bactria
Bactria (; Bactrian language, Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush, an area ...
-
Margiana complex had also developed
writing
Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...
, and thus may indeed be considered a literate civilisation. It bears five markings which are similar to Chinese "small seal" characters. The only match to the Anau seal is a small jet seal of almost identical shape from Niyä (near modern Minfeng) along the southern Silk Road in Xinjiang, originally thought to be from the Western Han dynasty but now thought to date to 700 BC.
Archaeological interactions with neighbouring cultures
BMAC materials have been found in the
Indus Valley civilisation
The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the Northwestern South Asia, northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 Common Era, BCE to 1300 BCE, and in i ...
, on the
Iranian Plateau
The Iranian plateau or Persian plateau is a geological feature spanning parts of the Caucasus, Central Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. It makes up part of the Eurasian plate, and is wedged between the Arabian plate and the Indian plate. ...
, and in the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
.
Finds within BMAC sites provide further evidence of trade and cultural contacts. They include an Elamite-type cylinder seal and a
Harappan seal stamped with an elephant and Indus script found at Gonur-depe. The relationship between Altyn-Depe and the Indus Valley seems to have been particularly strong. Among the finds there were two
Harappan seals and ivory objects. The Harappan settlement of
Shortugai in Northern Afghanistan on the banks of the
Amu Darya
The Amu Darya ( ),() also shortened to Amu and historically known as the Oxus ( ), is a major river in Central Asia, which flows through Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. Rising in the Pamir Mountains, north of the Hindu Ku ...
probably served as a trading station.
There is evidence of sustained contact between the BMAC and the Eurasian steppes to the north, intensifying . In the delta of the
Amu Darya
The Amu Darya ( ),() also shortened to Amu and historically known as the Oxus ( ), is a major river in Central Asia, which flows through Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. Rising in the Pamir Mountains, north of the Hindu Ku ...
where it reaches the
Aral Sea, its waters were channelled for irrigation agriculture by people whose remains resemble those of the nomads of the
Andronovo culture
The Andronovo culture is a collection of similar local Late Bronze Age cultures that flourished 2000–1150 BC,Grigoriev, Stanislav, (2021)"Andronovo Problem: Studies of Cultural Genesis in the Eurasian Bronze Age" in Open Archaeology 202 ...
. This is interpreted as nomads settling down to agriculture, after contact with the BMAC, known as the
Tazabagyab culture. About 1900 BC, the walled BMAC centres decreased sharply in size. Each oasis developed its own types of pottery and other objects. Also pottery of the Tazabagyab-Andronovo culture to the north appeared widely in the Bactrian and Margian countryside. Many BMAC strongholds continued to be occupied and Tazabagyab-Andronovo coarse incised pottery occurs within them (along with the previous BMAC pottery) as well as in pastoral camps outside the mudbrick walls. In the highlands above the Bactrian oases in Tajikistan,
kurgan cemeteries of the
Vaksh and Bishkent type appeared with pottery that mixed elements of the late BMAC and Tazabagyab-Andronovo traditions.
[David Anthony, '' The Horse, the Wheel and Language'' (2007), pp.452–56.] In southern Bactrian sites like Sappali Tepe too, increasing links with the Andronovo culture are seen. During the period 1700 – 1500 BCE, metal artefacts from Sappali Tepe derive from the Tazabagyab-Andronovo culture.
New research in the
Murghab region, in excavations at defensive walls of Adji Kui 1, showed pastoralists present, and living on the edge of the town, as early as the second half of the Middle Bronze Age (-1960 BC), coexisting with the BMAC population that lived in the 'citadel.'
Relationship with Indo-Iranians
The Bactria–Margiana complex has attracted attention as a candidate for those looking for the material counterparts to the
Indo-Iranians
The Indo-Iranian peoples, also known as Ā́rya or Aryans from their self-designation, were a group of Indo-European speaking peoples who brought the Indo-Iranian languages to parts of Europe, Central Asia, and South Asia in waves from the f ...
. This branch split off from the
Proto-Indo-Europeans
The Proto-Indo-Europeans are a hypothetical prehistoric ethnolinguistic group of Eurasia who spoke Proto-Indo-European (PIE), the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family.
Knowledge of them comes chiefly from t ...
and is associated with
Indo-Iranian languages
The Indo-Iranian languages (also known as Indo-Iranic languages or collectively the Aryan languages) constitute the largest branch of the Indo-European language family. They include over 300 languages, spoken by around 1.7 billion speakers ...
.
For example, Sarianidi advocated identifying the complex as Indo-Iranian, describing it as the result of a migration from southwestern Iran. Bactria–Margiana material has been found at
Susa
Susa ( ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh River, Karkheh and Dez River, Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital o ...
,
Shahdad, and
Tepe Yahya in Iran.
Mallory/Adams (1997) associated the Andronovo, BMAC and
Yaz cultures with Indo-Iranian migrations, writing,
Anthony (2007) sees the culture as begun by farmers in the
Neolithic in the Near East, but infiltrated by Indo-Iranian speakers from the
Andronovo culture
The Andronovo culture is a collection of similar local Late Bronze Age cultures that flourished 2000–1150 BC,Grigoriev, Stanislav, (2021)"Andronovo Problem: Studies of Cultural Genesis in the Eurasian Bronze Age" in Open Archaeology 202 ...
in its late phase, creating a hybrid. In this perspective, the
proto-Indo-Aryan language developed within the composite culture before moving south into what is now Iran and then east into the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...
.
Possible evidence for a BMAC substratum in Indo-Iranian
As argued by
Michael Witzel
Michael Witzel (born July 18, 1943) is a German-American philologist, comparative mythologist and Indologist. Witzel is the Wales Professor of Sanskrit at Harvard University and the editor of the Harvard Oriental Series (volumes 50–100). He ...
and
Alexander Lubotsky,
there is a proposed
substratum
Substrata, plural of substratum, may refer to:
*Earth's substrata, the geologic layering of the Earth
*''Hypokeimenon'', sometimes translated as ''substratum'', a concept in metaphysics
*Substrata (album), a 1997 ambient music album by Biosphere
* ...
in proto-Indo-Iranian that can be plausibly identified with the original language of the BMAC. Moreover, Lubotsky points out a larger number of words borrowed from the same language which are only attested in Indo-Aryan languages and therefore evidence of a
substratum in Vedic Sanskrit. He explains this by proposing that Indo-Aryan speakers probably formed the vanguard of the movement into south-central Asia and many of the BMAC loanwords which entered Iranian may have been mediated through Indo-Aryan.
Michael Witzel points out that the borrowed vocabulary includes words from agriculture, village and town life, flora and fauna, ritual and religion, so providing evidence for the acculturation of Indo-Iranian speakers into the world of urban civilisation.
Horses
In excavations at
Gonur Depe, at a brick-lined burial pit, grave number 3200 of the Royal necropolis, a horse skeleton was found in period I, dated around 2200 BCE along with a four-wheeled wooden wagon with bronze rims.
[Bonora, Gian Luca, (2020)]
"The Oxus Civilization and the northern steppes"
in ''The World of the Oxus Civilization'', Routledge, p. 749. Archaeologist Julio Bendezu-Sarmiento, mentioning N. A. Dubova's (2015) article, comments that this was an "almost complete skeleton of a foal" resting on the wagon with "wheels circled by bronze bands" and radiocarbon-dated to 2250 BCE.
[Bendezu-Sarmiento, Julio, (2021)]
"Horse domestication history in Turkmenistan and other regions of Asia"
in MIRAS 1 (81), pp. 22–24. So he considers this horse and the wagon are "one and a half century prior" to similar burials of
Sintashta culture.
A stone statuette that seems to be a horse with saddle was found in burial number 3210 also in the Royal necropolis and was reported by Sarianidi in 2005, and in burial 3310 parts of a stallion's body were found, the stallion lacked its head, rump, and tail, and was considered as a cult burial of a domestic horse by archaeologist Sarianidi in his 2008 publication.
Genetics

In 2019, Narasimhan and co-authors analysed BMAC skeletons from the Bronze Age sites of
Bustan,
Dzharkutan,
Gonur Tepe, and Sappali Tepe. The BMAC population largely derived from preceding local
Copper Age
The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in dif ...
peoples who were in turn related to
Neolithic farmers from the
Iranian plateau
The Iranian plateau or Persian plateau is a geological feature spanning parts of the Caucasus, Central Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. It makes up part of the Eurasian plate, and is wedged between the Arabian plate and the Indian plate. ...
and to a lesser extent early
Anatolian farmers, as well as
hunter-gatherers from Western Siberia (WSHG). The samples extracted from the BMAC sites did not have derived any part of their ancestry from the
Yamnaya people, who are associated with
Proto-Indo-Europeans
The Proto-Indo-Europeans are a hypothetical prehistoric ethnolinguistic group of Eurasia who spoke Proto-Indo-European (PIE), the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family.
Knowledge of them comes chiefly from t ...
, although some peripheral samples did already carry significant Yamnaya-like
Western Steppe Herders ancestry, inline with the southwards expansion of Western Steppe Herders from the
Sintashta and
Andronovo cultures towards Southern Central Asia at c. 2100 BCE.
Succeeding cultures, specifically the
Yaz culture, was characterised by a combination of BMAC and Yamnaya/WSH ancestries, and associated with early
Indo-Iranians
The Indo-Iranian peoples, also known as Ā́rya or Aryans from their self-designation, were a group of Indo-European speaking peoples who brought the Indo-Iranian languages to parts of Europe, Central Asia, and South Asia in waves from the f ...
. Narasimshan et al. (2019) found no essential genetic contributions from the BMAC in later South Asians, suggesting that the Steppe-related ancestry was mediated via other groups.
The male specimens belonged primarily to
haplogroup J, specifically J* (3/26),
J1 (1/26),
J2 (7/26), as well as
G (2/26),
L (2/26),
R2 (3/26),
R1b (1/26),
R* (2/26),
H1a (1/26),
P (1/26),
Q (1/26),
T (1/26) and
E1b1b (1/26).
Genetic data on
Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
samples from modern-day
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...
and
Uzbekistan
, image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg
, image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg
, symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem
, national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...
confirm the admixture between local BMAC groups and
Andronovo-related populations, at the end of Oxus Civilization. These Southern Central Asian Iron Age population derived around 57% of their ancestry from Western Steppe Herders (Andronovo) and c. 43% from the BMAC culture population. Modern day
Tajiks
Tajiks (; ; also spelled ''Tadzhiks'' or ''Tadjiks'') is the name of various Persian-speaking Eastern Iranian groups of people native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Even though the term ''Tajik'' ...
and
Yaghnobis were found to be direct descendants of the Bronze and Iron Age Central Asian populations, deriving ancestry from both the Yamnaya-like
Western Steppe Herders and BMAC groups, and showing genetic continuity to historical
Indo-Iranians
The Indo-Iranian peoples, also known as Ā́rya or Aryans from their self-designation, were a group of Indo-European speaking peoples who brought the Indo-Iranian languages to parts of Europe, Central Asia, and South Asia in waves from the f ...
.
[Guarino-Vignon, Perle, et al. (2022)]
"Genetic Continuity of Indo-Iranian Speakers Since the Iron Age in Southern Central Asia"
in ''Scientific Reports 12, Article 733'', 14 January 2022. These Iron Age Central Asians also displayed a higher genetic affinity to present-day Europeans than present-day
Uzbeks
The Uzbeks () are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakhs, Kazakh and Karakalpaks, Karakalpak ...
, who harbour an additional component derived from an East Asian-like source "through several admixture events over the past ~2,000 years", absent from Iron Age Uzbeks and modern Europeans.
Sites
In Afghanistan
*
Dashli,
Jowzjan Province
*
Khush Tepe (Tepe Fullol)
In Turkmenistan
*
Altyndepe
*
Gonur Tepe
*
Jeitun
*
Namazga-Tepe
*
Togolok 21
*
Ulug Depe
*
Berdysyčran-depe
In Uzbekistan
*''
Ayaz-Kala''
*''
Djarkutan''
*
Koi Krylgan Kala
*
Sappali tepe
See also
*
Indra
Indra (; ) is the Hindu god of weather, considered the king of the Deva (Hinduism), Devas and Svarga in Hinduism. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes
Indra is the m ...
* ''
Soma''
*
Zoroaster
Zarathushtra Spitama, more commonly known as Zoroaster or Zarathustra, was an Iranian peoples, Iranian religious reformer who challenged the tenets of the contemporary Ancient Iranian religion, becoming the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism ...
*
Vakhsh culture
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*Aruz, Joan (ed), ''Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus'', pp. 347–375, 2003, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)
google books (fully online)*
*CNRS, L'archéologie de la Bactriane ancienne, actes du colloque Franco-soviétique n° 20. Paris: Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1985,
*
*
*
*
*
*Forizs, L. (2016, 2003
Apāṁ Napāt, Dīrghatamas and Construction of the Brick Altar. Analysis of RV 1.143in th
homepage of Laszlo Forizs
External links
Black Sands – A documentary about the Gonur Tepe archaeological siteSarianidi archaeological expedition at Gonur Tepe archaeological site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex
*
Archaeological cultures of Central Asia
Bronze Age cultures of Asia
Archaeological cultures in Afghanistan
Archaeological cultures in Tajikistan
Archaeological cultures in Turkmenistan
Archaeological cultures in Uzbekistan
Archaeological sites in Central Asia
Bronze Age sites in Asia
Archaeological sites in Afghanistan
Ancient history of Afghanistan
Archaeological sites in Turkmenistan
23rd-century BC establishments
Unclassified languages of Asia